Bluebeard has a degenerative form of syphilis that ultimately diminishes his life and insults his control, shatters his view of life as a meaningful, comprehensible place, and the value of self. Attempting to restore a sense of cohesion and agency, eradicate the sense of helplessness, Bluebeard finds empowerment in asserting suffering on helpless victims - his wives.

Judith is desperately searching for an identity through her marriage to Bluebeard, a blind trust which ultimately ends in a traumatic shattering of her assumed world, taking from her the ability to return to her previous life, from reconnecting to community, from trusting new attachments.